John McKinty

McKinty was born in Belfast but lived in Carrick, County Donegal. In 1968 as a member of the Irish Guards, he was based in Aldershot and boxed for the British Army Boxing Club, making his debut for the Irish team against Scotland in March 1968.^[3]

He represented the Northern Irish Commonwealth Games team^[4] at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland,^[5] where he participated in the heavyweight category.^[6]

He won the silver medal^[7] after defeating Ngozika Ekwelum of Nigeria in the quarter-finals and Les Stevens of England in the semi-finals before being beaten in the final by Uganda's Benson Masanda.^[8]

After the Games he was honoured by the Borough Council with a civic reception^[9] and continued to represent Ireland at international level.^[10] In 1971, he reached the final of the prestigious ABA Championships at Wembley Arena where he was defeated by his rival Les Stevens.^[11][12]